Improvement in laying wooden-block pavement



UNITED STATES PATENT Gemor..

DAVID L. DE GOLYER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN LAYING- WOODEN-BLOCK Il?AV'EMENII.

Specijicatloa forming part of Letters Patent No. 88,765, dated April 6, 1869.

l'o all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I,D. L. DE GOLYER, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of I llinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wooden-Block Pavements for Roadways, Src.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and to the letters of reference thereon, like letter indicating like parts, wherever they occur.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it.,

My invention relates to wooden pavements for streets and roadways; and consists in a new method ofso constructing and arranging rows of wooden blocks upon a continuous foundation, laid directly upon the road-bed, as to form continuous channels across the roadway, by the use of an auxiliary strip extending to the foundation to determine both the parallelism of the rows of blocks and the width and depth of the channels, and in afterward removing this auxiliary strip and lilling the space'or channel occupied by it with gravel, broken stone, or other suitable material, and tar, as hereinafter described.

In the drawings, Figure l is a top plan view, and Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line x of Fig. 1.

rIhe earth of the roadway upon which my wooden pavement is to be constructed must rst be suitably prepared and graded. This may be done in any of the usual methods. When thus prepared, I rst lay wooden sleepers C, as shown in Fig. 2, transversely across the roadway. These sleepers C I make of suitable size, and place them at the required distances from each other to receive the ends of the boards A, which I lay longitudinally I first arrange one row, fixing it rigidly or firmly in position by any convenient means,

and then placing next to this row of blocks the auxiliary strip E, as shown in Fig. 2, and then against it another row of blocks, as shown in the same figure. This auxiliary strip E I make wide enough to extend to the foundation-boards A, and still be suiiciently far enough above the upper surface of the blocks for convenience in removing it. Its thickness should be made to correspond with the desired width of the channel. Its position causes the rows of blocks on each side of it to run parallel with each other, and when the second row is thus arranged it can, in the process of being arranged, be fixed in position. After this is done, I remove the auxiliary strip E, which leaves a channel of the depth of the blocks extending continuously across the roadway. In like manner I construct and arrange another parallel row of blocks, with the aid of the auxiliary strip, and make another continuous channel across the roadway, and so on indefinitely. In the process of constructing and arranging the rows of blocks and the continuons channels, it is obvious that they may be made in whole or in part as the work progresses. These continuous channels, thus made, I lill with gravel, broken stone, or slate, or other suitable material, and then pour upon the filling hot tar in sufficient quantities to penetrate and entirely ll all the cavities or vacant spaces that may exist in and between the particles of the material used for illin g, and then pack or ram the filling by means of an iron blade conforming with the width of the channels, driven down by a rammer. The tar, before being used, I boil long enough so that it will become stiff, but not hard and brittle, when cold.

.When the hot tar is poured upon the lling the pavement is completed.

'Ihe wooden blocks used in the construction of my pavement are out with parallel sides, lines, or surfaces, from joist or other suitable timber, in cross-sections of the shape shown in the drawings, and of any desired dimensions. These blocks are placed end upward upon the foundation, and as they are all cut of the same size and with parallel sides,'when placed in lines they form compact, continuous rows, with intervening` channels extending to the foundation The simplicity of the construction of my pavement enables laborers of ordinary skill to construct it easily and rapidly, and therefore cheaply.

As there is nothing above the'foundation but the rows of the blocks and the filling in the intervening channels, it forms a very conipactand uniform body, and possesses all the qualities of durability and utility that can be given to any wooden-block pavement.

I am aware of the English patent granted to onev Henry Austin, in the year 1843, and

numbered 9,737, and do not claim a wooden, pavement constructed as therein described; y

but

What I do claim as my inventionand"de sire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The method herein described of constructin ga .wooden pavement, consisting of wooden blocks set in rows, with spaces or channels between, filled withv gravel, broken stone, or other suitable materiahpand tar, which method consists in the use of an auxiliary removable strip or'board, to determine parallelism of the rows and the width of the channels, but forming no part of the completed pavement, substantially as herein described.

DAVID DE GOLYER.

Witnesses y J. J. CooMBs, H. B. MUNN. 

